Coast Guard saves sinking vessel south of Cordova

KODIAK, Alaska — Coast Guard aircrews and a good Samaritan fishing vessel crew responded to a 70-foot landing craft taking on water more than 100 miles south of Cordova Wednesday.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, forward deployed to Cordova from Kodiak, and an Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules airplane crew arrived on scene with the Daniel D. Takak at 6:30 a.m. Coast Guard crews deployed a rescue swimmer and multiple dewatering pumps to the help the sinking vessels crew with the rescue effort.

Through the use of the dewatering pumps and the help of the good Samaritans aboard the landing craft Evgaik, the Takak crew was able to patch the hole in the hull, get both engines running and start making their way towards Homer, where they are due to arrive at 6:00 a.m.

“The Takak crew did everything right in situation like this. They had proper survival gear on board and activated their electronic position indicating radio beacon so the Coast Guard could quickly find them,” said OS1 James Fangman of District 17. “Also, the willingness of the other Alaskan boaters, like the crew of the Evgaik, to assist in these situations greatly increases our efforts in keeping Alaska’s maritime family safe.”

The Evgaik crew will stay with and assist the Takak crew for the remainder of their transit to safety, and the Coast Guard will be standing by to respond again should anything happen during the transit.